This is a work in progress, started in 2004 with the
purpose of contributing to the documentation of the music of Duke
Ellington, as it was recorded from the beginning of his career until
the end of 1939. The work is not complete, nor flawless, and probably
never will be. But I think it is getting better all the time, not the
least thanks to contributions from experts and collectors from many
countries.

I hope readers will take the time and effort to write me about
additions and corrections.

Bjarne Busk

Duke Ellington material recorded by other artists in the 1920s
and 1930s.

At a dance date Duke Ellington was requested to play a
wellknown number from the repertoire of another famous big band. No,
said Duke, we dont play that. [Youve come to the] wrong
band!

And so it was in the twenties and thirties, as well as later on:
The known or ambitious bands strived for their own repertoire, thus
defining the band, and keeping a loyal group of followers. Still
quite many Duke Ellington compositions and adapted arrangements were
played and recorded by other artists in these years. The main reason
for that would be that these were just good songs for either dancing
or listening. Other reasons could be that bands had to be able to
play the hit tunes of the day, in order to keep their audience, there
was money to be made if people would buy a bands recording of a
hit tune, and sometimes the band manager or a publishing company
would dictate what was to be recorded. And there could be the
artistic challenge in playing Ellingtons kind of music.

In the following are listed Duke Ellington compositios recorded by
other artists in the 1920s and 1930s,plus a list of Ellington
compositions played by Paul Whitemans orchestra, though not
recorded by him.

As it will appear, I have not heard all recordings listed. So some
recordings of the more obscure titles may turn out not to be
recordings of Ellington compositions, but of other compositions with
the same title. The following records with titles similar to Duke
Ellington compositions (and sometimes erronuosly attributed to
Ellington in LP sleeve notes) have in fact turned out to be other
pieces than Ellingtons: Blue Mood (Mills Blue Rhythm Band),
Choo Choo (Frankie Trumbauer Orch.), Goin To Town (Luis Russell
Orch.), Hodge Podge (Claude Hopkins Orch.), Mississippi Moan (The
Mississippi Moaners), Morning Glory (Claude Hopkins Trio), Old Man
Blues (Freddie Keppard Orch.), Pussy Willow (Tommy Dorsey Orch.),
Showboat Shuffle (King Oliver Orch.), Solitude (Meade Lux Lewis),
Take It Easy (Earl Hines Orch.), That Solid Old Man (Eddie Brunner
Orch.). These are of course not listed, nor are records listed that
seem very unlikely to be Duke Ellingtons compositions (e.g.
Mississippi Moan with The Ebony Three 1938).

The lists include compositions, where Duke Ellington is composer
or co-composer. The prime source of titles of compositions is Duke
Ellingtons autobiography Music Is My Mistress. After the first
entry of the title is written first the year of copyright (c: ),
then the date of Duke Ellingtons first recording of the piece
(r: ), recorded broadcasts and unissued recordings included.

If the artist is not from USA the nationality is written in ( ).

Recordings by the small units from Duke Ellingtons orchestra
with either Duke Ellington or Billy Strayhorn at the piano are not
included, as they are regarded as Duke Ellington recordings.

In the last column is first written the matrix no. in ( ), then
the first issue, and then some later reissues. An * indicates that I
have heard the recording.

The tables are sorted by title and date of recording.

197 titles are listed in Music Is My Mistress as copyrighted
between 1924 and 1939. 302 recordings (alternative takes and rejected
takes included) are documented below of 64 different titles.

Recordings 1924  1929

49 titles are listed in Music Is My Mistress as copyrighted in the
1920s. 43 recordings (alternative takes and rejected takes included,
as well as some possible recordings) ) are documented below of 11
different titles. The 2 most popular numbers are Jig Walk (14
recordings and one possible recording), and Choo Choo (Gotta Hurry
Home) (9 recordings). The succes of Choo Choo could be due a.o. to
the fact that the song was published both as sheet music and in a
dance band arrangement (not by Ellington). As documented below the
tune was recorded by a number of other bands before Ellington himself
recorded it in his own arrangement.

Jig walk was the tune that caught on from the show Chocolate
Kiddies, not the least in Europe, where the show toured in 1925. 6 of
the known recordings of Jig Walk in the 1920s are by European bands,
as well as one further in 1933. Ellington never made a studio
recording of Jig Walk, the sole Ellington recordings of the tune
being from broadcasts, dance dates and concerts. As a whole it was
Ellington, the song and dance-music writer, that was recorded by
other bands in the 1920s, not Ellington, the artistic creator of
original music. For example the "hot" dance tune Birmingham Breakdown
from 1926/27 was recorded by three bands, Black And Tan Fantasy or
Creole Love Call from about the same time by none until the 1930s.

Titles in ( ) are tributes to Duke Ellington, not written by him.
4 tributes to Duke Ellington from the 1930s are listed. They are
written and played by orchestras coming from England, Denmark, The
Netherlands and USA.

During the 1930s Duke Ellington had become a nationally and
internationally known figure of music, and there was a growing
appreciation of Duke Ellingtons music as art, along with the
growing awareness and recognition of jazz music as an original art
form.. His music was published more extensively both on records and
in sheet music, and became described and analyzed by jazz critics and
musiologists. In 1932 for instance R.D. Darrell wrote an article
"Black Beauty" in the Philadelphia based magazine "Disques", which
was usually devoted to new classical recordings, an article that Mark
Tucker in his book "The Duke Ellington Reader" (Mark Tucker Ed.
Oxford University Press, New York  Oxford 1993) calls a
landmark of criticism, and one of the most important articles ever
written about Ellington. In the article the author aims at describing
what characterises Ellingtons music compared to the music of
other famous names in jazz and classical music. The more ambitious
bands seemed to be challenged by Ellingtons music, and want to
explore his way of writing and playing music. Especially his ballads
from the 1930s were recorded extensively by other bands, and were
becoming "standards" with a lasting attraction to both musicians and
the public to this day. The popularity of Duke Ellingtons
orchestra, and the music he wrote was also due to the radio
broadcasts from The Cotton Club (by 1929 Duke Ellington was broadcast
regularly on CBS Radio network).

From 1929 till 1937 Duke Ellington appeared in 11 films, probably
more than any other black bandleader at the time, which was both a
result of his growing drawing powers and a boost to his career, both
as a performer and a composer: Black And Tan (1929), Check And Double
Check (1930), Paramount Pictorial No. 837 The World At Large (1933),
Bundle Of Blues (1933), Murder At The Vanities (1934), Hollywood On
Parade (1934), Many Happy Returns (1934), Belle Of The Nineties
(1934), Symphony In Black (1935), The Hit Parade (1937), and
Paramount Pictorial No. 889 (1937). In Symphony in Black (1935)
Ellington is specifically shown as a composer in the classical sense,
writing the music of this "new symphony of negro moods".

Duke Ellington went to Europe in June1933, where he toured England
and Scotland for one and a half month, went to the continent and gave
a concert in Scheveningen, The Netherlands (which was recorded and
broadcast in the Netherlands), and played several concerts in Paris,
France, before going home in the beginning of August. He made a huge
impact on the European musicians and critics. No less than 20
European recordings of Ellington tunes made in 1933 after his tour in
Europe are documented below. Compared to the American bands, the
European bands focused more on trying to play like the Ellington
band, learning to use the tonal colours etc., and not just using the
tunes as a basis for dance arrangements. Good examples of this are
the recordings by the English band Madame Tussauds Dance
Orchestra that recorded 7 of Ellingtons compositions in 1933,
among those some of the more challenging and unusual ones like Echoes
of the Jungle and Old Man Blues. English bandleader and composer
Spike Hughes recorded The Mooche as early as 1930, and went on
composing a tribute to Duke Ellington in two parts called "A Harlem
Symphony" in 1931. In The Netherlands The Ramblers Dance orchestra
also made and recorded an Ellington tribute in December 1933
"Dukes Holiday", composed and arranged by Klaas van Beeck. A
similar honour was not given to Duke in USA until Charlie
Barnets "The Dukes Idea" in 1939. The English mouth organ
virtuoso Larry Adler recorded several Ellington tunes in the 1930s,
and his high esteem of Duke Ellington showed when he was called upon
to play Ellingtons Sophisticated Lady in the film "Many Happy
Returns" in 1934, and insisted upon having Ellingtons band to
play behind him.

In USA Cab Calloways Orchestra was the first big band to
record Ellington tunes, 3 tunes were recorded in 1931. It probably
had some connextion with the fact that Cab Calloway followed Duke as
house band in the famous Cotton Club in New York in February 1931.
Also the big white swing orchestras began using Ellington material.
Benny Goodmans Orchestra recorded and had in its repertoire 7
different Ellington numbers from 1935-1939. The Dorsey Brothers
Orchestra and Jimmy Dorseys Orchestra had several Ellington
numbers in the book. Even a society band like Richard Himbers
played and recorded Ellington tunes, showing Ellingtons now
broader appeal. One of the very best black big bands of the 1930s,
Jimmie Luncefords orchestra recorded 6 different Ellington
numbers in 1934-1935. Arranged by Sy Oliver, Willie Smith, Ed Wilcox
and Eddie Durham these recordings represented an ambitious and
original way of releasing the potentials of Ellingtons
material. The Orchestra with most recordings of Ellington tunes is
Charlie Barnets orchestra (10 recordings + a number of
recordings of Ellington associated tunes in arrangements similar to
Dukes). Charlie Barnet was an outspoken admirer of Dukes
music. As Barney Bigard wrote in his Autobiography "With Louis and
the Duke": "The band that really copied us was Charlie
Barnets. If you heard them on the radio a lot of people would
swear up and down that it was our band". (Barney Bigard - ed.
Barry Martyn: With Louis and the Duke. (Oxford University Press, New
York 1985). Charlie Barnets heavy use of Ellington material
continued throughout his whole career.

1. Recorded 1924 - 1939

Tune

(c: copyright year, r: the date of the first recording by Duke
Ellington)

Artist

Date and place of recording

Comments.

(Matrix no.). First issue. Some later issues on LP and CD.
Comments. * = I have heard the recording.

(Den grimme Ellington)

De Tre med Swing-Ensemble, dir. Bernhard Christensen
(DK)

1935-11-06
Copenhagen, DK

(OCS 253). HMV X 4547. The title is a pun on words:
Den grimme aelling = The ugly Duckling. *

From show "Chocolate Kiddies". Played in the show by
Sam Woodings Orchestra, and possibly recorded in Berlin
1925.07. ("Variety" no. 17, June 1925 (Franceschina p 14). Cfr.
(Lawrence p.51).

Jig Walk

Bernard Ettés Dance Orchestra (D)

1925-08 (c.)
Berlin, D

(2434-A). Vox 01955. (12" record).

Jig Walk

Bernard Ettés Dance Orchestra (D)

1925-08 (c.)
Berlin, D

(2831-B). Vox 1958. (10" record).

Jig Walk

Ipana Troubadours (Sam Lanin dir.)

1925-12-10
New York

(141374-). Col 528-D.

Jig Walk

Davis Saxophone Octet

1926-02 or 03.
New York

(1855=C). Cameo 906 Lincoln 2496.

Jig Walk

Unknown piano player with percussion device attached

1926-02/03 ?
New York

(610). (Mills Nickelodeon Transription 607). CD
Masters of Jazz MJCD 8 (Duke Ellington Vol. 1). The recording was at
a time attributed to Duke Ellington. It is now generally agreed that
it is not Duke. *

Jig Walk

Okeh Syncopators (Harry Raderman)

1926-02-20 (c.)
New York

(74019-B). OK 40614.
LP Merritt 04 and Up-To-Date 2004. *

Jig Walk

Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosewelt orchestra

1926-03-04
New York

(E-18196). Br 3126.

Jig Walk

Vans Collegians (Peter Van Steeden)

1926-03-05 (c.)
New York

(106690). PA 36422.
On Pathé Actuelle11134 as Red Nichols And His Orchestra.

Duke Ellington material was played by bands in the 1920s and
1930s without being recorded by these bands. Many of Duke
Ellingtons compositions were issued in sheet music, so they
were accessible. Especially the wellknown and popular ones such as
Jig Walk, Black And Tan Fantasy, Mood Indigo, Solitude etc. were
probably quite often played at dances and other occasions.

As an example see John Chiltons book "Roy Eldridge 
Little Jazz Giant" p. 22: "As part of the promotion, Roy built up
a new speciality by using a tin-can as a mute on his performances of
Duke Ellingtons recent success East St. Louis Toodle-Oo ".

I have not tried to find more such evidences.

The following about Paul Whitemans Orchestra is documented
on http://www.williams.edu/library/archives/pwc/ellington.html. (Paul
Whiteman Collection (PWC).

Title

Orchestra

Year

Comments

Documentation

Black And Tan Fantasy

Paul Whitemans Orchestra

?

Arranger: Livingston

PWC # 0179, score & parts

Blue Bells Of Harlem

Paul Whitemans Orchestra

1938

Arranger: VanEps.
The piece, commissioned by P.W. to Duke Ellington, was played by Paul
Whiteman And His Orch. at P.W.s Christmas Concert at Carnegie
Hall, New York, Dec. 25th 1938 (listed above).